Egypt's elections upon us: The story so far

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Image 1 of 9: Fire & brimstone: just one of the many violent scenes to beset the elections. After police failed to protect them, armed thugs attacked anti-military protestors, leaving 11 dead. This led to 3 days of mass protests from May 2-5 in Cairo, with police arresting 300 demonstrators, and according to human rights groups tortured them while in custody.

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Image 1 of 9: Mayhem: Nominations had barely opened in March, before disqualifications began in early April. Criteria for disqualification included foreign mothers, ties to the old regime & petty technicalities. It took a while to whittle down the candidates. Supporters for Abu Ismail a disqualified Islamist contender took to the streets & violence ensued.

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Image 1 of 9: From the frying pan into the fire: This fire had long been coming, and the flames were stoked by the Muslim Brotherhood who announced early on in February that they would be re-visiting the long-disputed treaty with Israel. This forced other candidates to make pubic their stance on this burning issue.

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Image 1 of 9: Revolutionary live TV debates: By 11 May, Amr Moussa and Aboul Fotouh had come through as the clear front-runner. The two candidates went head to head in Egypt's first ever televised election debate.

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Image 1 of 9: First wives club: Yes, they're voting on the President but what everyone really wants to know is who their first lady will be. Potentials ranged from the hidden faces of the Muslim Brotherhood wives to the ever-glamorous Leila Moussa (shown). Who will replace Suzanne Mubarak's iron-grip on Egypt?

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Image 1 of 9: Chain reactions, Poster frenzy: Candidates have been attracting attention with contentious campaign posters, public video broadcasts and T-shirt slogans. Posters have found their way on to babies and opponents' campaigns! In response, as the pioneers of protesting - Egyptians have taken to the streets in human chains and started flash mobs.

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Image 1 of 9: Egyptians voting abroad: another first for Egypt has been the overseas ballot box. (Shown) An Omani resident places her diaspora vote. 5,000 Egyptian voters in Israel voted overwhelmingly in favor of Ahmed Shafik, and across the board postal ballot counts reveal the diaspora vote swung in favor of Muslim Brotherhood's, Mohammed Mursi.

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Image 1 of 9: 13 candidates remain but only one can take the coveted prize to preside over this sprawling population. After the last candidate dropped out, we were left with 13 potential presidents. However, 3 main hopefuls have come to the fore as the real contenders. They are: Aboul Fotouh, Mohammed Mursi and Amr Moussa, otherwise known as the Three Amigos.

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Image 1 of 9: In spite of all the violence, Egyptians haven't lost their characteristic sense of humor. One gag doing the rounds has been the pun on Mohammed Mursi's name. Some smart alec Salafi Sheikh came up with calling Mursi - already leading in the polls- footballer 'Messi' of Barcelona of the race, destined to score the presidential goal.

From communists to Islamists, this time round, there have been rich pickings, but will Egyptians be overwhelmed by the choice?

Who would you like to see come through the race for Egypt? Who's your vote with, and who do you predict the Egyptians will elect? Leave your opinions, predictions or just remarks in the comment space below.